Prime Farmland, by Land Use, by Region and Year

Estimates presented here are based upon the latest information from the National Resources Inventory (NRI). The NRI is a longitudinal sample survey based upon scientific statistical principles and procedures. It is conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), in cooperation with Iowa State University’s Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology. These results are based upon the 2007 NRI, which provides nationally consistent data for the 25-year period 1982–2007. Estimates here cover the contiguous 48 states. Separate estimates include Hawaii, Alaska, and the Caribbean.

Margins of error are reported for each NRI estimate and must be considered at all scales of analysis. The margin of error is used to construct the 95 percent confidence interval for the estimate. The lower bound of the interval is obtained by subtracting the margin of error from the estimate; the upper bound is obtained by adding the margin of error to the estimate. A 95 percent confidence interval means that in repeated samples from the same population, 95 percent of the time the true underlying population parameter will be contained within the lower and upper bounds of the interval.

Table 33. Prime Farmland, by Land Use, by Farm Production Region and Year, in Thousands of Acres, with Margins of Error

Region

Year

Cropland

Pastureland

Rangeland

Forest Land

All Other

Total

Appalachian

1982

12,685.7 ±257.3

4,253.4 ±165.3

0.0 --

7,229.8 ±248.3

490.2 ±31.9

24,659.1 ±352.3

1987

11,962.7 ±275.1

4,402.5 ±186.6

0.0 --

7,244.5 ±240.4

694.1 ±38.2

24,303.8 ±340.6

1992

11,220.7 ±275.3

4,399.4 ±168.4

0.0 --

7,175.3 ±237.6

1,084.1 ±68.5

23,879.5 ±325.8

1997

10,895.9 ±241.2

4,281.6 ±154.7

0.0 --

7,136.7 ±227.5

1,037.1 ±68.9

23,351.3 ±317.7

2002

10,670.5 ±341.3

4,191.0 ±230.0

0.0 --

7,103.6 ±276.2

929.7 ±79.4

22,894.8 ±379.9

2007

10,092.2 ±360.9

4,439.7 ±270.7

0.0 --

7,105.7 ±292.9

980.8 ±164.9

22,618.4 ±384.3

Corn Belt

1982

66,295.4 ±500.3

7,244.7 ±243.7

63.2 ±28.8

4,369.4 ±160.1

1,634.1 ±48.4

79,606.8 ±541.2

1987

65,907.6 ±494.1

6,624.0 ±231.2

36.0 ±25.1

4,449.2 ±158.4

2,233.2 ±83.8

79,250.0 ±535.1

1992

64,420.6 ±488.8

6,461.5 ±248.1

36.0 ±25.1

4,504.9 ±162.0

3,473.0 ±132.8

78,896.0 ±537.1

1997

64,364.0 ±480.5

5,899.8 ±238.1

35.5 ±25.5

4,610.1 ±157.0

3,328.7 ±119.1

78,238.1 ±534.6

2002

63,963.9 ±531.9

6,097.9 ±287.4

35.5 ±70.9

4,759.1 ±233.6

2,922.9 ±122.1

77,779.3 ±566.1

2007

63,403.9 ±634.1

6,214.3 ±365.8

40.9 ±152.4

4,811.1 ±276.2

2,912.9 ±246.3

77,383.1 ±607.3

Delta States

1982

17,500.3 ±569.0

5,557.2 ±244.5

21.1 ±21.5

12,749.6 ±364.7

356.6 ±68.1

36,184.8 ±650.0

1987

16,806.1 ±549.6

5,661.2 ±223.1

22.0 ±21.5

12,768.2 ±396.9

655.6 ±67.9

35,913.1 ±662.2

1992

15,925.7 ±537.2

5,745.5 ±232.4

23.2 ±39.6

12,918.4 ±368.1

1,062.8 ±87.4

35,675.6 ±658.5

1997

15,354.7 ±523.6

5,677.9 ±237.6

26.8 ±38.9

13,195.7 ±337.2

1,129.7 ±82.8

35,384.8 ±645.5

2002

14,814.5 ±572.3

5,401.4 ±365.5

26.6 ±66.8

13,641.0 ±479.8

1,200.9 ±88.7

35,084.4 ±640.7

2007

14,401.4 ±607.7

5,369.6 ±420.7

26.4 ±26.7

13,793.7 ±456.4

1,243.5 ±143.5

34,834.6 ±570.7

Lake States

1982

28,067.6 ±619.6

2,693.2 ±190.8

0.0 --

6,053.4 ±329.1

1,027.0 ±49.4

37,841.2 ±751.8

1987

27,647.5 ±621.6

2,514.7 ±202.1

0.0 --

6,018.7 ±334.0

1,475.8 ±74.6

37,656.7 ±749.8

1992

26,967.5 ±584.0

2,330.4 ±187.8

0.0 --

6,026.0 ±330.4

2,140.7 ±107.7

37,464.6 ±753.6

1997

26,538.7 ±603.8

2,377.1 ±194.0

0.0 --

6,129.5 ±314.3

2,125.8 ±116.9

37,171.1 ±746.1

2002

26,088.0 ±586.0

2,649.4 ±340.4

0.0 --

6,250.6 ±344.4

1,981.2 ±103.4

36,969.2 ±824.1

2007

25,595.4 ±725.9

2,960.0 ±489.3

0.0 --

6,257.1 ±420.9

1,982.4 ±243.9

36,794.9 ±837.9

Mountain

1982

8,069.7 ±416.6

634.6 ±93.4

81.5 ±30.3

27.3 ±30.2

39.5 ±9.9

8,852.6 ±409.4

1987

7,875.9 ±387.6

628.7 ±85.1

73.5 ±30.5

28.6 ±30.2

107.5 ±28.6

8,714.2 ±387.2

1992

7,628.3 ±338.8

636.3 ±93.5

76.1 ±29.6

29.8 ±30.2

162.6 ±48.8

8,533.1 ±343.7

1997

7,464.7 ±323.2

621.1 ±88.9

82.5 ±29.5

29.4 ±30.2

164.7 ±48.2

8,362.4 ±334.9

2002

7,034.2 ±426.3

616.3 ±147.8

93.2 ±18.7

28.3 ±17.3

253.8 ±58.4

8,025.8 ±384.3

2007

6,816.3 ±502.3

606.2 ±149.1

152.0 ±100.2

28.2 ±4.2

267.6 ±102.1

7,870.3 ±451.4

Northeast

1982

7,007.7 ±192.2

1,752.7 ±112.6

0.0 --

4,588.3 ±215.1

337.0 ±47.5

13,685.7 ±286.8

1987

6,918.2 ±192.8

1,541.6 ±92.2

0.0 --

4,596.8 ±206.1

399.4 ±49.4

13,456.0 ±284.4

1992

6,698.0 ±197.4

1,430.3 ±84.5

0.0 --

4,617.5 ±195.9

461.1 ±62.6

13,206.9 ±284.1

1997

6,470.1 ±190.5

1,201.1 ±93.7

0.0 --

4,649.8 ±234.9

425.3 ±45.9

12,746.3 ±277.2

2002

6,113.3 ±202.1

1,300.9 ±121.6

0.0 --

4,572.5 ±271.0

459.7 ±50.6

12,446.4 ±336.1

2007

5,843.0 ±273.5

1,384.0 ±159.1

0.0 --

4,536.0 ±280.0

496.7 ±67.4

12,259.7 ±381.2

Northern Plains

1982

44,287.6 ±740.5

2,129.8 ±138.4

6,142.2 ±231.2

672.7 ±74.7

1,189.9 ±77.4

54,422.2 ±711.1

1987

44,224.5 ±692.4

1,990.8 ±126.1

5,882.1 ±213.7

672.3 ±75.3

1,625.2 ±97.2

54,394.9 ±712.8

1992

42,570.5 ±715.2

2,067.0 ±147.4

5,663.8 ±209.9

687.3 ±73.9

3,229.8 ±132.7

54,218.4 ±710.6

1997

42,625.5 ±719.3

1,999.5 ±135.9

5,619.4 ±210.3

692.1 ±75.6

3,216.4 ±148.3

54,152.9 ±714.2

2002

42,120.3 ±740.7

2,073.8 ±217.6

5,739.6 ±329.1

701.9 ±88.9

3,447.6 ±227.7

54,083.2 ±667.2

2007

41,676.9 ±999.8

2,265.6 ±340.9

5,683.8 ±443.0

697.2 ±125.4

3,648.0 ±391.3

53,971.5 ±831.6

Pacific

1982

9,466.4 ±490.1

1,221.5 ±134.6

413.8 ±126.9

779.6 ±115.9

180.1 ±21.5

12,061.4 ±553.2

1987

9,236.0 ±513.5

1,217.4 ±134.1

404.9 ±121.0

787.3 ±113.3

336.1 ±57.7

11,981.7 ±576.3

1992

8,795.2 ±529.6

1,198.1 ±96.4

406.5 ±119.8

769.1 ±115.7

440.4 ±73.7

11,609.3 ±596.9

1997

8,597.7 ±528.3

1,142.6 ±122.5

408.2 ±120.4

749.5 ±114.0

460.5 ±68.4

11,358.5 ±603.7

2002

8,337.0 ±726.2

976.8 ±103.2

469.3 ±117.0

766.4 ±165.4

574.5 ±122.4

11,124.0 ±730.2

2007

8,374.8 ±660.2

923.5 ±145.1

467.2 ±201.9

767.4 ±260.1

573.7 ±152.5

11,106.6 ±679.7

Southeast

1982

8,858.6 ±228.7

2,893.4 ±152.8

2.2 ±4.4

7,772.3 ±203.7

379.6 ±37.5

19,906.1 ±318.8

1987

8,063.9 ±201.8

2,914.1 ±156.1

2.2 ±4.4

7,961.9 ±194.1

774.7 ±82.2

19,716.8 ±312.5

1992

6,940.5 ±224.8

3,123.5 ±169.8

2.2 ±4.4

8,083.6 ±194.1

1,322.0 ±93.1

19,471.8 ±303.5

1997

6,312.1 ±203.9

3,023.7 ±152.9

2.2 ±4.4

8,399.6 ±199.9

1,304.5 ±111.6

19,042.1 ±297.0

2002

5,799.1 ±245.5

2,961.1 ±230.5

2.0 ±2.0

8,934.9 ±506.9

980.4 ±177.7

18,677.5 ±433.3

2007

5,230.5 ±358.7

3,114.3 ±298.5

2.0 ±2.0

9,109.4 ±626.8

965.4 ±205.6

18,421.6 ±502.6

Southern Plains

1982

27,138.8 ±615.3

8,633.5 ±374.2

13,310.4 ±462.8

2,629.0 ±151.1

500.6 ±30.2

52,212.3 ±810.7

1987

25,996.5 ±618.3

9,000.9 ±376.6

12,914.8 ±489.3

2,757.6 ±158.0

1,280.8 ±112.1

51,950.6 ±820.5

1992

24,159.4 ±606.0

9,240.6 ±377.4

12,736.0 ±492.9

2,842.9 ±166.0

2,726.8 ±172.2

51,705.7 ±814.0

1997

23,293.8 ±642.6

9,228.2 ±388.0

13,156.4 ±481.6

3,072.1 ±197.4

2,591.2 ±183.8

51,341.7 ±809.3

2002

22,227.4 ±659.5

9,599.0 ±500.1

13,368.0 ±644.9

3,096.8 ±298.0

2,571.1 ±322.7

50,862.3 ±916.4

2007

20,991.2 ±866.7

9,960.2 ±566.2

13,754.4 ±918.7

3,064.7 ±391.8

2,627.6 ±388.1

50,398.1 ±909.5

Notes:
• Cropland includes cultivated and non-cultivated cropland.
• All Other includes other rural land and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land. CRP was not implemented until 1985.
• When the estimate is 0.0, margins of error are not applicable and shown as a dashed line (--).
• Instances where the margin of error is greater than or equal to the estimate are displayed in italics indicating that the confidence interval includes zero and that the estimate should not be used.